By Mieke Pressley
The end of the semester is drawing near. Before long, we’ll all be dressing up in our best clothes for the Christmas Gala, before splitting ways for our well-deserved Winter Break. But before that, there is one penultimate event to keep an eye out for. An event that brings all the coziness of Christmas (quite literally) to our front door and allows us a moment of relief from our final deadlines. I’m referring to the annual HAC Christmas Market, taking place on Thursday, the thirteenth of December, from 4 to 8, in the street of Bagijnhof. To find out what this year’s Christmas Market has in store for us, I had a chat with Justin Kist and Giorgia Sherman, two students in charge of making the Christmas Market possible.
So, what can we expect to find at the Christmas Market? Giorgia Sherman (secretary of the Christmas market team) and Justin Kist (chair) tell me that this year, the vice mayor of Middelburg has agreed to ceremonially open the Christmas market at 4 pm. After that, you have access to an array of stands, clustered on both sides of the Bagijnhof street. A few of UCR’s societies (such as Susco) have contributed and will have their own stands at the market. Furthermore, if you’ve always wanted to pie a big board, or even faculty, member in the face for charity, you will have the opportunity to do so at the market. A few external parties have also chipped in. The bread lady will supply us with homemade goods, …, and a group of children from the nearby primary school will set up an arts and crafts table from 4 to 6 pm. Furthermore, while the Christmas market is not out for profit, all money made at the market will be given to charity. Via UNICEF, the raised funds will be used to build classrooms in Syria.
So, do you need a break from crunching out those final words on that one paper that just isn’t getting done? Or are you lucky enough to have already finished all your deadlines and have time to kill? Go check out the Christmas Market. Because what better way to give yourself some rest than to surround yourself with holiday spirit. And as Giorgia states: “It’s a nice way to unwind after a stressful time.”
Mieke Pressley, Class of 2019, is a History and Art History Major from Brussels, Belgium
Sources:
Image Source: UCR Christmas market 2018
